How to Develop a Payroll System
Developing a payroll system rates right up there with getting a root canal for most business owners. Understanding the legal, tax and operational issues can be onerous, especially if you have more than 10 employees. It is an exercise that involves long meetings with accounting, legal and upper-level management. A way to simplify the process is to use Intuit QuickBooks accounting software for small businesses. You can do your payroll on QuickBooks without subscribing to Intuit, which charges a fee.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Download QuickBooks. If you don't already have it, you can download a free version of the software for basic use (see Resources for a link).
-
2
Install and open the program. Choose "Edit" to select your preferences. Go to the "Payroll & Employees" section and select "Full Payroll." Close the "Preferences" dialog box by clicking "OK."
-
-
3
Select "Employees." If this is your first time using the program, the "Set Up Payroll" window will pop up automatically. If not, you will need to choose this function by selecting "Employees," "Payroll Services" and then "Set Up Payroll."
-
4
Select "Choose a Payroll Option." Then choose "Do-It-Yourself Payroll" in the "Payroll Setup Options" window.
-
5
Look for the phrase "If you don't want to use an Intuit Payroll ... ." Click the link labeled "Learn More."
-
6
Click on the link "To Calculate Payroll Taxes Manually." Read and print out the instructions, and then click "I Choose to Manually Calculate Payroll Taxes."
-
7
Walk through the remaining options to set up your payroll items and taxes. To actually issue paychecks, select each employee and enter the gross wage as prompted. Enter deductions using a minus sign for each amount.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
For federal withholdings, use the tax-rate schedules and tax tables in the IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit freedigitalphotos.net
